Table of Contents
- CIO Statement/Mission Statement
- CITS Overview
- Featured Goals
CIO Statement/Mission Statement
The Center for Information Technology Services (CITS) is the central information technology organization for UMB. Our mission and focus is to treat UMB students, faculty, staff, colleagues, and co-workers as treasured customers. Excellence in service to the UMB community is our challenge and responsibility.
CITS Overview
Composed of six areas, the Center for Information Technology Services provides IT maintenance, support, and oversight to the entire University of Maryland, Baltimore campus. These areas are Technology Operations, Business Operations, Central Administration IT Services, Information Security and Compliance, Enterprise Applications, and Data Analytics and Reporting, detailed below:
Technology Operations includes Infrastructure Services (which implements and maintains the central computing data centers and infrastructure [i.e., database services, messaging systems, Microsoft systems, UNIX systems, computer operations and data storage] for the campus enterprise computerized services), Networking and Communications Services (which maintains the University Unity communications systems, as well as the campus computer networking systems), Identity Management and System Integration, and Web Applications & Development.
Business Operations includes IT Support and Software Licensing.
Central Administration IT Services includes Central Administration IT, IT Support, and IT Training and Communications.
Information Security and Compliance strengthens the security for all University-owned systems, with additional consideration for those systems that have access to sensitive data, monitor industry trends, investigate, locate, and mitigate IT security vulnerabilities, and ensure campus compliance with state and University System of Maryland audit and data security regulations.
Enterprise Applications implements and manages administrative systems, including Quantum Financials, eUMB, HRMS, and Banner; as well as academic systems, including Kuali Research, Blackboard, Philanthropy IT Systems and Services, DocuSign, ImageNow and MediaSite
Data Analytics and Reporting implements and manages data, analytics, and reporting systems including Quantum Analytics, Data Cookbook (data definitions, data quality, & report documentation), and the Data Warehouse. This office supports the entire University’s analytic needs and enables the university to leverage insight for data-driven decision making.
Featured Goals
Goal 1:
Reduce the server hardware and data storage equipment footprint on campus to achieve cost savings, efficiencies, and benefits associated with cloud-based technologies.
Summary – 60% achieved
CITS has transitioned 195 on-premises servers to Cloud infrastructure environments in FY24. By the end of calendar year 2024, CITS will have reduced the number of on campus servers by 273 or 76% since inception of the cloud first approach.
Additionally, both Storage Area Networks (SANs) will be decommissioned by the end of 2024 due to Cloud migration efforts. The SANs were overdue for replacement and would cost over $1M each to replace.
Further the server moves in 2024 will allow for a number of older technology licenses, hardware maintenance contracts, and backup software to be eliminated by the end of 2024, saving over $200K.
All databases were moved to the Cloud in 2024, including those hosted by CITS, SOM, SOD, and SSW, so that the Oracle license for hosting databases on-premise could be eliminated saving over $250K.
School of Nursing is actively moving its main file and database server to the cloud and expects completion by the end of 2024.
School of Social Work is actively moving files and database servers to the cloud and expects to reach 90% cloud presence by the end of 2024.
Goal 2:
Leverage Microsoft’s computing infrastructure to develop and implement Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD).
Summary – 50% achieved
During the AVD Desktop Replacement pilot, we’ve been resolving technical issues and optimizing the user experience.
We have also been planning the rollout to the remainder of Central Administration. From there we will assist the rest of the university with rolling it out.
Goal 3:
Support research programs and activities through the development and use of Microsoft cloud computing and cloud infrastructure solutions.
Summary – 85% achieved
The Secure Research Environment is now in Production and in use for active research projects. The user guidebook was published in January 2024. As of the end of FY 2024, we have 35 SREs in use with over 100 active users.
We’ve hired an IT resource to exclusively focus on the support and growth of the SRE enhancements underway/completed since launch in January 2024. These include self-egress, APIM, and new software packages/libraries.
CITS created a new enterprise REDCap environment in FY24 that will host all REDCap projects for both UMB and UMCP. This system will go live in the Fall 2024 and all existing projects from both campuses will be migrated in the following months. The new REDCap environment will have enhanced security protections to ensure all data captured in the projects are secure and to leverage the SRE for projects that contain sensitive data. An IT resource is being recruited to provide additional support for REDCap and future integrations.
Goal 4:
Strengthen UMB’s overall security posture by seeking and addressing vulnerabilities, assessing and mitigating risks, and heightening cybersecurity awareness.
Summary – 60% achieved
The following IT security events are occurring daily:
- Depending on the day and activity, the UMB IT security systems are currently recording between 850 million and 1.2 billion connection attempts per day. These are attempts to get access to UMB systems and data. Of those, between 250 million and 500 million connection attempts are being blocked because they are known security threats.
- Also depending on the day and activity, the UMB Microsoft 365 email system receives between 550 thousand and 800 thousand emails. Microsoft security technology categorizes and blocks between 10 thousand to 15 thousand of those emails because they are known phishing attempts and between 50 and 300 emails because they contain malware.
- The UMB multifactor authentication solution (DUO), manages approximately 25 thousand requests daily.
Groups whose daily job duties include access to sensitive data will be the first migrated in the initial phase of the AVD rollout
Other notable activities:
We conducted two penetration tests, one for Internet accessible systems and another for the Secure Research Environment.
Mandiant Attack Surface Management
We have implemented Mandiant’s Attack Surface Management console, which was funded by USM. Mandiant’s Attack Surface Management helps cybersecurity teams see their systems the way hackers do. This tool uses hacker insights to change security measures from just reacting to threats to actively preventing them.
Weekly reports and monthly meetings are currently in place to help schools identify issues that need to be addressed to strengthen UMB’s cybersecurity.
We are implementing the Onspring GRC (Governance, Risk and Compliance) tool which will help address three key areas.
Controls and Compliance:
1. Document controls across UMB and communicate why they are in place, what they require and who is responsible
2. Relate controls to authoritative content (laws, regulations, standards) including GDPR, PCI, HIPAA, ISO, FFIEC and others
3. Categorize controls (SOX, fraud, privacy, etc.) to drive focus and criticality
4. Perform control testing and manage issue resolution with automated workflow
5. Report on controls and compliance through flexible dashboard and dynamic documents.
3rd Party Cloud Vendor Security Assessment:
1. Track vendors, subsidiaries, relationship owners and contacts
2. Perform vendor due diligence and analyze criticality, usage and spend
3. Deliver surveys and risk assessments to external contacts
4. Manage contract review and renewal, coordinate with legal, procurement and other functions
5. Report on the overall status of our Vendor Management program
Enterprise Risk Management:
1. Identify risks that could impact UMB
2. Evaluate a risk impact, likelihood, criticality and prioritize accordingly
3. Develop mitigation plans for addressing risks, and track activities, approvals and associated costs
4. Report to risk owners can campus leadership
5. Coordinate with internal audit, general counsel, compliance and other assurance functions.
Goal 5:
Enhance and promote the UMB Data Analytics Program.
Summary – 60% achieved
The data analytics program has focused on the following areas to expand strategic reporting capabilities:
1. Enhanced reporting for the Sponsored Projects Accounting and Compliance (SPAC): As grants data was fragmented all over the financial system, SPAC was expending more than 40 hours a month to manually create the monthly report for Grants, Projects and Views (GPV). A new automated capability was created to extract all the data from Quantum Financials and load it into the data warehouse. 2 new dashboards were created that now enable SPAC to produce the GPV report within minutes. The reports include more robust information and filtering capabilities that have substantially improved SPAC’s ability to work with the data.
2. Enhanced financial encumbrance reporting: Various encumbrance reports were using different subledger sources which caused confusion when comparing the results of the reports even though the data was accurate. The reports were updated to use the same subledger source for consistency in the reporting of operating encumbrances. Travel encumbrances were added to these reports for expanded reporting capabilities.
3. Enhanced School of Medicine’s data feeds for their new ERP system: An additional data feed was created to send budget information from Quantum Analytics to SOM’s Priority-BA system. The budget information has enabled SOM to do more comprehensive financial reporting.
4. Enhanced Scholarships and Grants student reporting to resolve audit finding: Resolved an audit finding for the Financial Aid office by enabling schools to access their scholarships and grants awarded information. Schools had to contact the Financial Aid to receive this information. The auditors deemed this practice did not provide sufficient autonomy for the schools to validate their scholarship and grant data. A new scholarships and grants report was created for each school to validate that the Financial Aid office is entering and managing this data accurately. The new report includes additional data and has improved the overall reporting process for scholarships and grants.
5. Created reporting capability to support the re-accreditation process: In conjunction with the creation of the Evidence Inventory Management System (EIMS) to collect evidence items for the re-accreditation process, a reporting capability was added to EIMS. 3 reports were created to facilitate the tracking of evidence collection by MSCHE standards, criteria, and affiliations.
Goal 6:
Enhance education applications and systems for both in-classroom and remote teaching and learning.
Summary – 60% achieved
CITS has installed seven additional Learning Tool Interoperability (LTI) protocols that expand the Blackboard functionality.
We have aligned support for Blackboard and Media Site with Banner and other student systems, achieving better synergy and support efficiencies.
The Educational Technology Steering Committee is a group of Provost- and Dean-appointed individuals who can speak to the process of educating students in UMB schools has been formed to identify needs for advancing education technology to support student learners and faculty educators. The committee will identify initiatives, and actions pertaining to teaching, learning, student growth, and education success.
There have been 4 monthly meetings so far. Topics discussed include:
1. Replacing the Cisco polling software Sido with Poll Everywhere
2. Possible use of CE21, which offers learning management, membership management and educational event conferencing services
3. Looking at other technologies such as attendance management, curriculum management, and AI chat bots.
Poll Everywhere has been purchased and is being integrated with Zoom and Blackboard.
Goal 7:
Reimagine the future by implementing new and/or upgrading existing information systems and applications.
Summary – 60% achieved
The project to replace the eUMB HR/Payroll application with the Oracle HCM Cloud application is in build and test phase. There is a target goal for an April 2025 campus go-live.
After a successful RFP for a new fund-raising management software application, Blackbaud CRM has been selected. The implementation has started and design/build activities are in progress. The target go-live is first quarter 2026.
Concur Travel and Expense, a fully integrated system for travel and business expenses was implemented for the campus.
Goal 8:
Support the UMB Center for Global Engagement and global programs and initiatives via the availability and use of contemporary tools and technologies.
Summary – 50% achieved
A new feature added to UMB Global Hub is the ability to see additional information when clicking on a link for each country where projects are being performed. After clicking on the link to the country, the viewer will be able to click on a link to each project in that respective country and see the title of the award, the sponsor, the principal investigators name, and the description of the project.
We continue to update the Global Hub site monthly as new data is provided. At this time, there haven’t been any additional updates to the Global Hub map.
Also, the IT Help Desk continues to work with the Global Hub to utilize the current Incident Management System for their support operations. The Global Hub team has been involved in the preparations for a new Incident Management System.
Goal 9:
Support the UMB Community Engagement Center and local UMB community engagement activities in West Baltimore with technology resources.
Summary – 60% achieved
CITS helped establish proper connectivity for the Community Engagement Center to enable them to offer Tax Prep Services.
We also helped to relocate existing equipment to allow for setup of larger Tax Prep server in 2024 as the original location was unavailable.
CITS helped to ensure the Community Engagement Center can continue to provide resources to the community by ensuring all technological functions are operating at capacity.
Goal 10:
Develop new communication and customer support mechanisms.
Summary – 50% achieved
The UMB Help Desk Working Group continued reviewing existing help desk software on campus and has identified business needs to define the requirements for uniting UMB under one system.
A help desk ticketing system replacement has been chosen. We will expand the use of SysAid across campus to unite UMB under one system. SysAid is currently used by the School of Medicine and FPI.
Goal 11:
Pursue additional opportunities for collaboration by acquiring, building, creating, and sharing technology in a collaborative way.
Summary – 50% achieved
A project to expand the use of eDisclose from a School of Medicine application to an enterprise solution for conflict-of-interest tracking and reporting is underway. The project is in the design/build phase with a projected go-live in the 4th quarter of 2024.
The campus has engaged with Sweeten to provide requesters and purchasing agents enhanced access to diverse suppliers include MBE and WBE. Direct access to Sweeten platform is now easily accessible from within the Quantum Financials application purchasing module.
Leveraging Microsoft products and services, we continue to consolidate and reduce the number of tools, technologies, and systems that effectively do the same thing. Future considerations include reducing the number of communication, collaboration, and video-conferencing systems.
Goal 12:
Encourage the development and promote the use of advanced and emerging technologies for academic success and administrative effectiveness.
Summary – 60% achieved
We have continued with the implementation of Microsoft Azure and Azure Virtual Desktop, using them with a pilot group within CITS and Central Administration. These tools will enhance IT security and the protection of data as well as provide UMB schools and departments the opportunity of buying less expensive computing devices.
A new Future Ready Student Administrative Systems Steering Committee has been established to identify needs for advancing student administrative systems and student experiences. The committee will identify initiatives, and actions that pertain to student growth, support, experiences and success. Some topics for initial meetings have included data standards, reporting, business process standardization, emerging technologies, and exploration or a potential new student portal.
The following systems were created for the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, Strategic Planning, and Assessment (IESPA) in order to improve the planning and tracking of strategic planning information, and accreditation and assessment information.
SPIMS - Managed in Anthology (formerly, Campus Labs) Planning system – the previous system was limited to goal tracking with minimal ability to manipulate data collection fields. All information from the system was then exported to Excel and managed in Pivot tables and later, with the support of HRS staff, utilized Power BI for analytics.
The new SPIMS application is used by schools and administrative units across UMB to track strategic goals and their progress/completion over a 5 year period. It has been designed so they can reuse it for future 5 year periods and create new goals, assign people to the goals (owner/contributor/view only) and run numerous custom reports to track metrics and progress, risks, and annual plans for each goal.
APAIR – Used to manage/track academic programs within each school at UMB. Information was previously managed in Anthology Planning System - the previous system did not manage UMB's Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs) implementation status nor did the Anthology system managed UMB's External Review Status. The new system gives schools the ability to manage program details, goals, goal development/progress, ILOs and External program reviews. Similarly to SPIMS, it is also designed to track information for a 5 year period and the system admins can assign people to each program (owner/contributor/view only) and run numerous custom reports to track progress/completion.
Ad-PAIR - New process with implementation scheduled in FY25. Using the APAIR system as the initial idea/design for this system but this one will be used by administrative departments to track academic unit information. Units will be able to provide unit detail information, unit goals, external reviews, self-study, and updates/progress related to their unit. System admins can assign people to each unit (owner/contributor/view only) and run numerous custom reports to track progress/completion for 5-year periods.
Future projects that will introduce artificial intelligence, chatbots, virtual assistants, etc. will include the new Human Capital Management System and the expansion of the SysAid Help Desk system.
Goal 13:
Integrate the UMB Core Values into the CITS organization culture through education and demonstrated behaviors.
Summary – 60% achieved
We held eight CITS small group sessions on the topics of both UMB Core Values and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in the fall of 2023.
Goal 14:
Create a CITS dashboard of specific metrics and indicators to assess progress with DE & I in CITS.
Summary – 80% achieved
Further adjustments and updates continue to be made to the dashboard of metrics and indicators to assess progress with diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Goal 15:
In collaboration with the Office of EDI, CITS will increase awareness, enhance education and knowledge, and change attitudes and perceptions regarding items and issues pertaining to ED & I.
Summary – 50% achieved
We held eight CITS small group sessions on the topics of both UMB Core Values and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in the fall of 2023.
Goal 16:
Promote knowledge, expertise, and career development in CITS.
Summary – 60% achieved
Approximately 91 percent of all CITS employees have participated in at least one professional development opportunity this fiscal year.